Chapter 7

As usual, I probably owe Rob_3324 my soul for editing this and turning random letters, punctuation and occasional awkward phrases typed as fast as my toes would work the keyboard into something approaching readability. Rob, my cap is off to you (it has to be, I have to use my toes to scratch behind my ears).

I would also like to thank David for 'once' helping me, Bohica60 for 'Cheming' me into spelling the city (I created, mind you) correctly (there's something truly humbling in having someone correct me on spelling a fictitious city that I created and named), Blake who pointed out that 'Alex, Bucky, Chance' was just as alphabetical as 'Adams, Bouville, Castern and Danville', and, of course, LP yet again for changing my fare to tasty, low-cal goodies.

I still miss the cookies though. Just sayin'.

September 1, 1986

There's one thing that's different about holidays on a ranch – you still have to do the daily chores. When you live on a ranch, there are no real days off. You have to finish everything because the cattle, pigs, and fields don't recognize the holidays. Sure, you might work a bit faster and move certain non-essential things around so you do less on a holiday but you're still going to be working. Labor Day was no exception; it was what my Dad called a 'made up holiday so those lazy sons-of-bitches in Washington can take a day off'. Dad always had a way with words.

I fed the pigs and cattle and counted the herd. After Dad's injury a few years ago, we'd lost over — our cattle due to illness; the cattle just started showing up dead, according to the hands. What he'd found, though, was a severe roundworm infection. He'd managed to save as much of the herd as he could but we'd lost quite a few cattle. We also lost both hands; not due to roundworm – Dad just fired them. He'd have had to anyway because of the severe cost of his hospitalization but he let them go with prejudice which meant they'd have a difficult time finding a new ranch to take them on if the ranch called Dad for a recommendation.

My cash infusions had helped and we actually had more cattle now than we'd had before; most of the cattle were younger, though, so we weren't completely out of the woods yet. We could sell a calf or cow for slaughter but Dad wanted to make sure we had enough to secure the herd's future. Of course, more cattle meant more work. Even on a holiday.

After morning chores, Dad and I rode the fences to make sure they were sturdy. We also checked the hay fields and made sure the cattle were secure. Dad wanted to irrigate a few of the fields but I convinced him to put it off until the next day. For kids in Montana, probably like most northern states, Labor Day marked the true end of summer. There may be a few isolated days in the next month where we could go swimming at the lake but mostly the water, like the days themselves, would be turning too cold to swim.

It was a big outing.

Mom and Dad had invited our next door neighbor's, the Tefols. That wasn't surprising; Mom and Dad are very friendly and neighborly and usually invite all of our neighbors to the holiday picnics like Memorial Day, July 4^th and Labor Day. What was surprising was that they actually came. The Tefols have been our neighbors for just over four years and in all that time, they've never come over to our house. I'd never actually met them either, though I occasionally saw them at a distance from one of our fields that adjoined theirs. I'd waved once or twice and they'd occasionally waved back but that was the extent of our interaction.

Martin Tefol was a mountain of a man. While he was only a few inches taller than me, he somehow pulled off being squat with a massive, barrel chest, huge, muscular arms and neck that was pretty much non-existent. Every space he entered, he filled; it was almost as if he was blotting out the very sun, leaving you cold and timid in his presence. I can't quite explain it; when he walked into a room, you just felt like he now owned that room.

He had a deep, belly laugh that seemed to come from nowhere. He certainly didn't have the stomach to pull off a laugh like that; as far as I could tell, he didn't have a stomach. His voice was gravelly and low; he never seemed to raise it but you could hear it throughout the room anyway. When my dad offered something to drink and he asked for a beer it just felt more like he was commanding instead of asking.

For all of that, he had steel gray hair, shooting copiously through his dark mane. His substantial mustache and beard, meanwhile, were nearly replete with it. His face, while leathery, had tell-tale cracks and lines that gave me the feeling that the man was old, certainly older than my father. His eyes were sharp and beady, dark blue orbs that looked everywhere and missed nothing. His nose added to his rugged appearance, it was large and thick and slightly off-center; you could tell that it had been broken before and had not set straight.

As big and muscular as Martin was, his wife was that gorgeous and feminine. She was also far younger, the blush of youth still coloring her cheeks and only a stray wrinkle about the eyes marring her appearance.

Mrs. Alice Tefol stood a few inches shorter than me with thick, long brown hair that billowed in the stray breeze. She had a ready smile that lit up her face, even as she was using her hands to pull her hair out of her ice blue eyes. When she smiled, her lips went from full to spectacular, with a single endearing dimple carved into her right cheek. She wasn't rail thin but she wasn't bulky either; she looked active but with all the proper curves in all the right places.

When Martin moved, his muscles rippled and he had a walk like a predator stalking its prey. With Alice, there was grace in every movement, a dancer's body gliding through our doorway. They were extremes, hard Martin versus soft Alice.

Besides Mr. and Mrs. Tefols, there were their three daughters; Eliza was 19, Melinda was 15 and Claudia was 4. Strangely, the three daughters looked nothing alike.

Eliza was the spitting image of her Mother if her Mother had lost a few pounds. Alice looked soft and cuddly but Eliza looked hard and muscular like her father; Eliza was the rod to Alice's more inviting pillow. She had the same thick, beautiful, brown hair as Alice though hers was slightly lighter and she wore it in a long braid down her back. She had Alice's ice blue eyes and thin, soft nose but her mouth was ever so slightly harder than her Mother's and her slightly more gaunt cheeks were missing Alice's soft dimple.

Melinda, on the other hand, didn't resemble her mother or her father. She had soft, thick blonde hair that was almost white and she wore it long and free like her mother but where Alice fought to move her hair out of her face, Melinda was fine with it falling in front of her. It made her face difficult to see, but I caught glimpses of a round face with high cheekbones above hollowed cheeks. Every now and then I would catch peeks of eyes that were an electric blue above a small, dainty nose. I even caught glimpses of full, thick lips that always seemed to hover on the edge of a frown.

I couldn't prove it but I got the strange feeling that Melinda was watching me. Her hair hid most of her face from my view but the tilt of her head and the set of her body always seemed to be towards me. Every time I looked at her she was facing me ... and I got the impression that she wasn't happy with what she saw. She maintained her distance, however, keeping to the corner chair, staying out of the conversation around her.

While Melinda was quiet and stand-offish, Claudia was the life of the party. She was shy for maybe 3 minutes when she first entered the house but was quickly off like a shot. Inquisitive and full of life as only a 4-year old can be, she brazenly took on all comers almost compelling you to sit and play with her or just give her a hug. It took her all of 3 seconds to tie me around her little finger, looking up at me with wide, gray eyes and a chubby little face that could go through 50 expressions in a matter of seconds. The most endearing quality was the way she'd shake her long dark hair, making it fly everywhere; I'd swear her head wasn't attached to her neck the way she could twist her head about.

I was sitting on the floor with Claudia as she explained all about the little doll she'd brought to play with but I was keeping an eye on everyone as well. Something about the older Tefols just felt off but I couldn't place what it was. To all appearances they were happy and having a great time with their neighbors but there was a nervousness in the air that I just couldn't place. I was almost willing to let it lie as just the strain of meeting new people when I caught something peculiar that left me wondering.

It was so subtle, I almost missed it. Mr. and Mrs. Tefol were sitting on our couch with their oldest daughter while Melinda sat in a chair in the corner. Mom and Dad were talking to the other grown-ups, Eliza included, laughing with them, sharing stories as all new acquaintances do. At one particular point Mrs. Tefol was laughing and just leaned for the briefest second against her husband; a loving little gesture I thought nothing of. Except, when I was looking away to smile at Claudia, I saw Eliza mimic it. I thought I might have imagined it so I watched more closely ... and it happened again. It meant nothing and yet I felt like I was somehow looking at a secret, a secret I shouldn't know and shouldn't have picked up on.

It was the weirdest feeling and, though I wanted to, I just couldn't seem to dispel it. It happened a few other times but by then my mind was working hard, turning over the problem but finding no solutions. I felt like I should know what was going on but I couldn't seem to understand what I was seeing. In my gut I felt there was something there but my rational mind wasn't really talking to my gut just then; or, if they were talking, it was different languages.

"Chance?" my Dad was saying loudly in that tone of voice that told me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was at least the second and probably the third time he'd called me.

"Sorry, Dad," I replied, looking at him. "I guess I was lost in my own thoughts."

"It's okay, Son," he smiled. "I was just asking if you wouldn't mind taking the Tefols down to the lake with me? I could use some help getting the big grill down there." Dad had a grill he'd made out of one of those big, black barrels. He'd soldered the ends down and then cut it in half, drilling hinges into the metal on one side and welding rods underneath to hold it up. He'd even made a wire grill that fit in it and welded tabs on the inside to hold the grill. It was big and bulky and took 4 big bags of charcoal to fill but my Dad could work that grill to perfection.

"I was hoping to wait for Mikayla," I explained unenthusiastically. "She should be here any minute now."

"That's okay, Rob," Mr. Tefol said with a smile. "I reckon you and I can wrestle the grill down there." He was effecting a Southern drawl which was pretty out of place here in Montana and it wasn't very good anyway. It just reinforced the strange feeling I had that something about the man and his wife and oldest daughter wasn't quite right.

"Thanks, Martin, but that's Chance's job," my Dad said, looking at me. At his words, I signed in resignation. My Dad was big on jobs; if you said you'd do something or he told you to do it, he expected it to get done. "I'll have Lena or Susie bring Mikayla down with their friends when they get here."

"Yes, sir," I said with a groan. I looked over at Claudia. "Well, Claudia, I guess you and I get to go down to the lake first."

"Really?" she squealed, looking happy. "You have a lake? Mommy and Daddy said you did but I didn't believe 'em."

"Really," I said with a grin, standing up and holding out my hand. "Come on, let's get to the truck before all the good seats are taken!"

Well, it almost worked out. Claudia got to ride in the truck with the Tefols while I sat in the bed trying to make sure the grill didn't fall over. Dad had it tied down but I guess he figured it wouldn't hurt for someone to watch it to make sure it didn't tip; besides, there was no room in the truck.

The nice thing about the lake is you can smell it before you get there. There's just something refreshing and invigorating about the dank smell of the watery oasis, half hidden behind a wall of Ponderosa Pines and Lodgepoles. A path leads between two of the Lodgepoles down to a slight clearing with a small natural ramp into the lazily flowing lake. There's two beautiful Whitebark Pines just off the water itself on either side of the small clearing, their ancient branches spread over the lake, protecting it from the harsh sun. The other side of the lake has a small meadow, allowing sunlight down to tickle the water with its rays and warm it for our enjoyment. The lake is beautiful and sometimes I just come down here to sit next to the bank, to think and relax. The beauty though, lies mostly in the scent of water interspersed with the sweet smell of pine needles; that soft, subtle fragrance is both relaxing and exciting all at once.

The path to the lake is short but you can't really fit the truck down there; there's room between the trees but it can make the clearing awful crowded – especially since we had 4 large picnic tables down there for people to sit or eat on. Needless to say, Dad pulled the truck off to the side of the trail just before the clearing and I helped him wrestle the large grill off the truck and down between the 2 pairs of tables.

"Very nice," Mr. Tefol said with his deep, gravelly voice, his head nodding appreciatively. I wondered how he did that without a neck but I kept my mouth shut. "It's a perfect slice of heaven."

"Thanks," Dad said, a bit winded. "We like it. I grew up on this little lake; learned to swim on it and almost drowned doing it. My older brother Roger still has a scar on his chin from where I hit him with a rock after he picked me up and threw me in the deep end. Dad just laughed his fool head off as Roger bled, said it served him right. Of course, my Mom wasn't too happy with it all; it took her nearly half an hour to get the bleeding to stop. Back then there wasn't a doctor's office in Rouleau; we'd a had to go down to Cheming to the hospital to get Roger fixed up if Ma hadn't got it stopped with her butterfly bandages."

Mr. and Mrs. Tefol just laughed while Eliza only managed a wry smile. Melinda just kept her head down and Claudia just looked from one adult to another like they were crazy. I'd heard the story before in one of Buck's dream memories so I didn't find it that funny anymore but I did smile.

"Do you mind if we take a dip?" Mr. Tefol asked as my Dad worked to pile up the charcoal into a large pyramid; according to him that's the best way to fire up the briquettes and then you spread them out when they turn white. I couldn't argue with him; Alex had never been much of a cook.

"Go right ahead, Martin," Dad smiled. "Make yourself t'home; I'm going to get the coals started and then head back and pick up Sarah with the food and drinks."

Did I mention that Mrs. Tefol and her daughter Eliza were beautiful? It bears repeating because I had no idea what I was talking about. Mrs. Tefol is drop-dead gorgeous and her daughter is so pretty there should be a law against it. They were that same other-worldly, unattainable beautiful that I thought Crystal, Molly's roommate, had cornered the market on.

The bikinis the two of them wore were barely able to hold in the attributes that their shirts had been hiding; they were big attributes without being too big. Definitely more than a handful – well, maybe not my hands but I had freakishly large hands – but not so big that they started to dwarf soccer balls. They were damn near perfect and most all of them were on display; there wasn't much real cloth to the bikinis.

When they turned to run into the water, I got another shock. The back end was just as pleasant as the front except it didn't stick out nearly as far. They were round and as perfect as any I could remember from any lifetime. I had to thank God that thongs hadn't become popular yet and then again that they were facing away from me so that they didn't watch my chin drop to my chest with my tongue hanging out.

"Sorry," Mr. Tefol laughed, looking from me to my dad like he were imparting a secret to both of us. There was something that was just... off ... about the look on his face. I couldn't place it; his eyes were just a touch too shiny or his face was a touch too eager. "They like to show off a bit. I should've thought to ask what swim suit they were going to wear."

Strangely, even through the sudden hormone- and lust-filled fog currently enveloping me, I got the distinct impression that he wasn't sorry at all. I got the strange idea that not only had he asked them what they were going to wear but he picked it out for them. It was like they were prize heifers and he was showing them off; it was the same feeling I got when Dad was selling one of our cattle. With Dad, though, I was rather proud of his bargaining skills but it just looked slimy and oily on Mr. Tefol. I felt a small shudder of revulsion creep across my skin.

The feeling broke me out of my drooling spell and I managed to turn away from the two visions of loveliness. As I turned, though, my eyes passed over Melinda and there was such a look of anger and hatred in her eyes that it literally scared me. Then, the wind blew the hair back in her face and the look was gone. I shuddered again and turned to my father but he was still captivated by the two women.

"Um, we need to get the food, Dad," I said, more to break him from the spell of the two beauties than because we actually needed the food yet.

"What?" Dad said, turning to me, the spell broken. "Oh, yeah. The food." He looked from Mr. Tefol to the two women in the lake to me; there was a look of almost panic in his eyes.

"You're going to have to stay here, Chance," he said almost regretfully. I had the distinct impression that he'd have taken me with him if he could but to do so would have been impolite. My parents were never impolite; it was just against their nature. "Keep Mr. Tefol and his family company. Uh, I need you to carefully watch the charcoal, okay, so you can spread the coals just when they get white and then close the lid, okay?" It was almost like he was trying to will a message to me telepathically. Strangely enough, I think I got the message. Watch the grill ... and stay away from the Tefols as much as possible. The look he was giving me told me, plain as day, that whatever game they were playing I was in way, way, way over my head.

Thankfully, I got lucky. Lee and Darcy came at just that moment with Mikayla, Sally and Anna right behind the two of them. Of course, certain parts of my body didn't think it was too lucky - my rock hard member screamed at the missed chance but all the rest of me sighed in relief. I was more convinced than ever that there was a game being played here; maybe that was why the Tefols seemed so strange to me. Evidently, much to my Dad's consternation, I was old enough to play but I was not old enough to play well. I'd also bet my last dollar that I wouldn't like losing; the initial benefits might be nice but I'd pay in the long run.

The new arrivals stopped for the briefest moment as their eyes fell on Mrs. Tefol and Eliza and I swear the bright, sunny day grew dim and cold. Mikayla turned to me, her smile a bit forced as she looked at me with inquisitive eyes before casually walking over to the grill.

"Enjoying the scenery?" she said in a far too innocent voice.

There was no way to answer that question without getting in trouble. So I didn't. "That's Mrs. Tefol and her daughter Eliza," I said innocently as I stared at the burning charcoal. "Mom and Dad invited them for the picnic."

"Really?" she replied, drawing the word out before ending it in a little gasp. I looked up at the sound but she wasn't looking at me anymore. "Well, maybe there are compensations."

I turned to look at what she was staring at ... and was greeted by Mr. Tefol wearing only a pair of swimming trunks. I'd thought the man was big before. I was wrong. The man was huge; almost a caricature of a body-builder. His chest was corded muscle that flexed with every movement and you could have easily washed clothes on his stomach. His shoulders bulged from just under his ears all the way down to his arms and his arms kept up the motif by running in stunning bumps and hills down to his hands. It didn't end there; I've seen fully grown tree trunks that were smaller than his legs. All in all, the man was one mass of bulging, elegantly sculpted muscle.

I turned back to look at Mikayla but she was just looking at me with a mischievous little smile on her face. "See?" she laughed. "Two can play at that game."

"I ... I haven't even looked..." I sputtered. I could feel my face turning red.

" ... since you've ... uh ... been here..." I finished lamely.

Mikayla giggled and grabbed my arm, hugging it to her. "I'm just getting you back first. You know, get it out of the way."

"Now that you're here, I only have eyes for you," I replied with a smile. Evidently, I can occasionally do suave.

"Oh, God ... how corny can you get?" she laughed. "You're a male, Chance. Of course you're going to look. Heck, they're so hot I'm looking..."

"I saw Sally and Anna," I said, desperately changing the subject. I turned back to the grill and noticed the briquettes had started turning a whitish-gray. I quickly grabbed Dad's fireplace poker and started spreading them around. "Where's Jesse?"

"Oh, that was smooth," Mikayla laughed, drawing the last word out. "Nice subject change."

"I liked it," I smirked, glancing at her out of the side of my eyes. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, I laughed. "Besides, the subject needed changing."

Mikayla looked at me in surprise for a second, her head tilted, then bumped me with her hip and giggled. "You might be right." She settled down as I fit the cooking grate over the hot coals. "Jesse isn't coming."

"Oh?" I said, looking over at her as I dropped the grill into place. "Why not?"

"Because she's a bitch," I heard from behind me. Turning, I saw Sally standing behind us with Anna coming up behind her. I was about to ask her how long she was standing there when she answered my question for me. "You're right, though, they are entirely too pretty to be here. I say we kick them out. The old guy can stay, though. He's good eye candy."

"Eye candy?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, you know ... a hot looking guy taking his shirt off," she started lifting the back of my tee. I looked back in protest but she just arched her left eyebrow. "Candy for the eyes." She dropped the hem of my shirt, letting it fall back into place.

"Don't worry, though, Chance," she continued, her face dropping into an exaggerated pout. "I only have eyes for you." She finished by blowing me an air kiss.

"Oh, God ... not you too," Mikayla gave a mock sigh.

"So, are you two like a couple now?" Sally asked as Anna came up behind her. "'Cause if you are, I want you to know that you've just messed up my entire first week or two of high school."

"How'd we mess up your first week of high school?" Mikayla asked, a confused look on her face.

"Well, duh!" Sally replied, shaking her head slightly. "Who do you think my first crush of the year was going to be?" She dropped her face into a moue and looked at me longingly through her lashes. "I had so many plans for you, too."

"If you're nice maybe I'll let you borrow him," Mikayla said, with a repressed grin.

"Borrow me?" I asked in concern.

"Of course," she grinned. "I always share my toys."

"Oh, so now I'm a toy?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"You mean you're not my toy?" she asked, tilting her head forward, raising her eyebrows and staring at me like I was crazy.

"Uh ... no ... I guess I am your toy," I stuttered in reply. I generally know when to retreat. It's my favorite move.

Mikayla reached up and pinched my cheek, pursing her lips together. "And they said he couldn't be trained," she mocked.

"So, are you two like girlfriend and boyfriend now?" Anna asked, trying to catch up to the conversation.

"I don't know," I replied honestly, turning to Mikayla. I was trying to catch up to the conversation myself. "What am I, Mick?"

"Dead, if you call me Mick again," she said, her pinch turning a bit harder. She let go and tilted her head, as if deep in thought.

"We're friends," she concluded, then smiled. " ... with possibilities. I'll know more after this Saturday."

"Which is why Jesse is a bitch," Sally interrupted, turning the conversation full circle.

"Oh?" I asked, closing the grill lid. If you left the lid open too long the charcoal would cool and we'd have to start all over again.

"It's no big deal," Mikayla jumped in, glaring a warning at Sally. "She's just upset."

"Why?" I asked. "Does she have something against Labor Day? Or food? Or swimming?"

"No," Sally said, her eyes wide and tilting her head at Mikayla. "We've been having weekly sleep overs since like 2^nd or 3^rd grade; we alternate houses every week and this week is Jesse's turn. Except Mikayla said she couldn't go because she was going to dinner and the movies with you."

"Ah," I said to buy myself time. Sometimes it takes me a few minutes to let my head go through all of my possible responses. "Well, I could always drop you over at Jesse's after our date. I don't want to come between you guys."

Sally said something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'you can't stop it' but I wasn't completely sure what she said nor what she meant.

"No, I can afford to miss one week," Mikayla said, glaring at Sally again. "Besides, it's something we're all going to have to deal with sooner or later. We're all going to get boyfriends eventually and it's going to make us miss some sleepovers."

"Not Jesse," Anna said. I guess it was Sally's turn to glare and Anna was the recipient.

"Why not?" I asked, trying desperately to follow the conversation. I have a theory that it is impossible for a mere man to keep up with a conversation with females. The translation takes too long.

"Because she has some weird thing about saving herself for marriage or something," Sally said quickly. "Hey, there's your Mom and Dad. Do you know if your Mom made any of that pickle relish she makes?"

I had more questions but I knew when to stop before I got too far behind. Besides, I could see a subject change when I heard it. "I'm sure she did; she always has some for these holiday picnics."

Susie showed up not too long after, her friends Janey and Jamie Canterberg and their older brother Freddy, in tow.

Janey and Jamie were identical twins; not even Susie could always tell them apart and they were her best friends. They had light brown hair that they kept short in a pageboy, parted on the left side but curling delicately around their oval faces on each side. Each of them had piercing gray eyes under thin, delicate brows with a long, thin nose extending down from between. Their delicate faces were quite attractive; better than pretty but not quite at beautiful. I knew that, given time, that would easily be corrected.

What stood out about each of them were the large bumps under their tops. Obviously they had developed early and had been blessed with an overabundance of mammary glands; their slight, thin bodies and long, underdeveloped arms and legs made their breasts seem almost comically large.

In the meantime, their brother Freddy was a sophomore and, I learned later, a tackle on Lee E. Robert High's football team; I'd be seeing him the following morning. Though young, he was the prototypical size and shape for a tackle; big and bulky, with plenty of muscles hidden under a few layers of fat. He stood maybe an inch or two shorter than me but outweighed me by at least 60 pounds and probably more like 100. His hair was lighter than the twins, though not quite blonde, but his eyes were the same piercing gray. His nose was long and thin, like theirs, but it seemed to fill more of his face.

I got pretty busy after they arrived. Dad suddenly couldn't do without my help on the grill, despite the fact he had done the cooking for these holidays for years previously and despite the fact that my job was mostly just standing next to him and handing him burgers, brats and steaks. I wasn't sure why my dad suddenly required all of this 'assistance' but my pet theory was that he just didn't want me anywhere near the Tefol's women. However, it could have been another effort to bring us closer together so I couldn't manage to get upset; he did spend a lot of time telling me how he was cooking things and why.

About midway through the cooking, Mikayla made her way over to me and just put her hand in mine. I turned to make a cute remark but it died on my lips. She looked a bit upset but when I looked a question at her she just shook her head. From then on, she just stayed right by my side. I certainly wasn't complaining but I was worried. I turned around to look for Sally and Anna but I didn't have to look far; they were seated at the picnic table right behind Mikayla. They looked a little upset as well.